Overall a lovely venue for our sketch show. Being a 4-man outfit there was just enough room for 3 'on stage' with one sat by the window with the laptop running tech. Also the door at the back of the 'stage area' allowed us to have a seperate space for props and costume changes.

The room itself is a simple rectangular room, seating up to about 45/50 comfortably (with 4 feet clearance at the front for the 'stage) although you can squeeze in a fair sight more with extra stools and groundspace (depending on how much room you need at the front). Any future sketch shows might like to know that it's not the best for any seated scenes. We switched ours to standing so people could see from the back which made a big difference to the crowd's reaction.

Having seen a number of the other shows at our venue, it was good to be able to genuinely plug them at the close of our show and other acts were helpful in plugging our show which was really nice. We felt there was a nice community feel here. We understand from the emails that there were a few issues before we arrived on 17th, but credit and thanks to the other acts for sorting everything out as we encountered no problems for our run.

Ged and Norma and the barstaff were very friendly and supportive. The pub itself is nice for people to grab a drink before/after the show too. Although sometimes it wasn't possible to return glasses to the bar straight away before the show, we did collect them up as often as possible afterwards (especially on Fri/Sat night when the staff downstairs are pretty busy). The bar staff seemed to really appreciate this.

Future acts may be pleasantly suprised by the size of the room and the tech facilities available - when we found we had the audio system and flatscreen link-up we were able to put together a good powerpoint presentation that allowed us to have some sort of relevant backdrop for each sketch. We had some technical difficulties with the sound on the last night and the staff were very helpful in trying to sort this. But actually, having to cobble together 'human sound effects' for the last show went down well and seemed to generate a lot of goodwill.

Suggestions for anyone here in the future:
Grab flyers for the show after you, so you can flyer seats before yours and help keep the audience for the next act. Similarly, try and be around before the start of the show before yours to flyer people coming out.

Flyer, flyer, flyer - Obviously key anyway, but if your flyer has a map then you can flyer down Cowgate, Chambers St and the Royal Mile to grab an audience. We think that really helped us in keeping consistently high audience numbers, especially raising the visibility of the show. (oh and try and flyer round Espionage and the Underbelly to catch people coming out of other shows)

Bear in mind that Scottish licensing means that no under 18's will be allowed into the venue. It was nice to be able to let our friends with kids know this rather than having them find out on the night.

If you have the windows shut to block out the sound outside, be aware that the room gets a bit hot. We addressed this by having a 'half-time' game with the audience during which we opened the windows to allow some cool air in. I'm sure they appreciated this and certainly helped keep the energy up for the second half.

Picking up a few hints from seeing other acts with their donation requests, we can recommend scripting in something concise and honest regarding the cost of taking a show up. Obviously it's a tricky road to navigate, but try not to alienate anyone at the same time. We found that after sitting down and scripting something with a bit more thought, we seemed to have a much better response.

If any future acts want any information about the venue/timeslot we'd be happy to talk to you. Just get in touch via our website below.

Finally, thanks very much to the Beehive, the venue captain, the other acts, and of course PBH himself. We had a great time. We'd love to come back next year.